Digital encylopedia tells a new story of learning for schools

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Australopedia, a digital, multimedia encyclopedia built by students as part of their normal school work has been developed by the UTS International Research Centre for Youth Futures to be introduced initially in a group of Sydney high schools along with remote Indigenous schools in Western Australia and Queensland.

“Australopedia gives these schools the opportunity to model what will become a national endeavour,” said Director of the International Research Centre for Youth Futures and creator of Australopedia, Professor Rosemary Johnston, who has been developing the idea for several years.

“This is a new model for project-based, interdisciplinary, self-directed learning and real-world collaborations with families, local school communities, businesses and organisations,” Professor Johnston said.

“It will encompass stories and oral histories from local citizens and local heroes, explore the local impact of real-life issues and apply STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) and STEAM (STEM+arts) knowledge to possible solutions.

Premier Mike Baird interviewed at the Australopedia launch by UTS journalism student Han Nguyen. Interview recorded by Media Arts and Production student Eugene Wong.

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Premier Mike Baird interviewed at the Australopedia launch by UTS journalism student Han Nguyen.

0:00

HAN NGUYEN: What do you think about this program?

0:01

MIKE BAIRD: Look it's an incredibly exciting program because one of the challenges with

0:08

kids, particularly in remote communities, is how do you inspire them to be connected?

0:13

How do you remind them that their community is just as important as any other community

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and their stories are as important as the kiddies, obviously, in the middle of the city,

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and I think this program has the capacity to connect them, to promote their story, their

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community, their organisations and connect it, obviously, into the wider audience…

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and I think through that the kids will enjoy school more and be inspired to keep going.

0:40

HAN NGUYEN: Do you think this will improve the state's education levels, because I believe

0:45

the NAPLAN results were not as pleasing this year?

0:47

MIKE BAIRD: Undoubtedly the results are a little bit disappointing this year, so we

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have to look at that, but look, I think what it will do, particularly in the focus of the

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regional and remote communities, it will provide an additional incentive or mechanism for those

1:05

kids to enjoy being at school, to connect them into school, to connect them into other

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students and other schools and I think that's a great thing.

1:13

HAN NGUYEN: And what makes you think this project is going to work, because surely 50

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years ago… say, when I was in school we didn't have anything like this, what makes

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you think this might be able to work?

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MIKE BAIRD: Well obviously experts have put it together, and I wouldn't call myself an

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expert in this field, but I certainly can see the potential intuitively.

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You can imagine…

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I mean kids these days are doing much more themselves, whether they be with games or

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with IT… they're connected in ways that certainly weren't when I was growing up.

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So extending that into a classroom way, so using that interest in technology and connecting

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as part of an overall curriculum, I mean it makes sense.

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And I certainly think that focusing in on, those communities that are remote; obviously

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they naturally feel away from other schools and what is going on elsewhere across the

2:05

state… and I think that this is a way to connect them in, so, I think that it's really

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important and a great tool for our schools to use.

2:13

HAN NGUYEN: Awesome, thank you so much.